Vegetable-washer.



PATENTED JAN. 23, 1906.

L. MEYER. VEGETABLE WASHER. APPLICATION FILED FBB.20, 1905.

fnveniof' flza LOUIS MEYER, OF DAYTON, KENTUCKY.

VEGETABLE-WASHER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 23, 1906.

Application filed February 20, 1905. Serial No. 246,514.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, LOUIS MEYER, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Dayton, in the county of Campbell and State of Kentucky, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Vegetable-Washers, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, which form a part of my specification.

My invention relates to a machine especially adapted to the washing of celery, although it may be used for washing other vegetables, as will be apparent from the description.

The object of my invention is to'produce a machine by means of which celery or other vegetables in the condition in which they come from the ground covered with earth and other extraneous matter may be thoroughly washed and cleansed, so as to be ready for the market, and to produce such a machine as will do the work thoroughly and rapidly and with convenience to the person operating the machine.

The advantages of my invention will appear as I proceed with my specification.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a side elevation of my improved machine; Fig. 2 is a vertical section through the same. Fig. 3 is a horizontal section through Fig. 1 on the line 3 3 thereof, and Fig. 4 is an end elevation of my improved vegetable-washer.

The machine is of simple construction and is composed of two uprights A A, braced and held apart and parallel by'means of lower cross-pieces B B and an upper cross-piece C.

' The lower cross-pieces are preferably mortised into the uprights and bolted or screwed to them. The uprights are provided with vertical grooves D D on their inner faces, in which slide tongues E F in the ends of crosspieces E F, which hold the brushes that are used in washing the vegetable. Said crosspieces are adjusted so as to freely slide up and down in the grooves D.

H H are the brushes, which are preferably semicircular in form, the cross-pieces E and F being cut out on their adjacent sides to receive the brushes, which form when the crossbars E and F are closed together a more or less circular brush with the bristles extending toward the center.

To the upper cross-piece E is secured a pipe G, which slides freely in the upper piece C. This pipe has secured to its upper end a flexible pipe or hose G, which leads to any source of water-supply, the arrangement being such that the cross-bar E may be freely raised up and down, so as to accommodate the brushes H H to bundles of vegetablessuch as celery, for example-of different sizes. Water is freely admitted through the hose G to the pipe G and thence down through the extension 9 into the brush H, from which it flows freely, so as to come to all parts of the vegetable or bunch of vegetables which is being washed.

By means of suitable slots K (see Fig. 4) in the lower ends of the vertical uprights A A and thumb-screws 7c the machine may be clamped to the edge of a tub L or any other suitable support.

In operating my improved machine the operator has on one side of the machine a receptacle containing the vegetables either separately or in'bundles as they come from the ground covered with earth, and on the other side of the machine a receptacle or vessel to receive the cleaned vegetables. With one hand he grasps the earth-covered vegetable, pushes it into the opening between the brushes H and H, and then grasps it with the other hand and by means of the two draws it back and forth between the brushes until it is sufficiently clean, the water from the pipe G serving not only to wash the vegetable, but also to carry away the earth which is removed from it. When it is sufficiently clean, the operator throws it into the receptacle for the cleaned vegetables. Another vegetable or bunch of vegetables is then taken up and the process repeated.

The advantages of such a machine are apparent from the description, and I have found that by its use an enormous percentage above the amount now cleaned in a certain time is obtained.

Having thus described my invention, what I desire to claim as new and to cover by Letters Patent is A vegetable-washer comprising guides,

suitably braced in parallel position to each I brushes, and means for supplying Water to other, means for clamping said guides to a said pipe, substantially as described.

suitable support brush-holders slidin in said guides, substantially circular brushes seeured LOUIS MEYER to said brush-holders, adapted to form a eir- Witnesses: ole when the brush-holders are brought to- CLARENCE E. MEHLHOPE,

gether, a Water-pipe leading to one of said JOSEPH R. ROHRER. 

